[Nightmare Man]
Plot:After receiving a mysterious demonic African mask in the mail, a young woman named Ellen Morris is continually attacked by a being she refers to as "The Nightmare Man". Her husband believes she is paranoid however and believes she should see a doctor. On the way to the doctor, Ellen is attacked by the nightmare man but manages to escape to a cabin in the woods..where four strangers take her in and vow to protect her. But is this for real...or all just in Ellen's head??

Cast:Gwen Davis, Robert Donovan, James Ferris, Blythe Metz, Richard Moll, Hanna Putnam, Tiffany Shepis, Aaron Sherry, Jack Sway, Luciano Szafir.

My Thoughts:A valiant effort, but falls short.

Review:It's not a stretch of the imagination to say that pretty much everything has been done with the supernatural possession genre. And so many filmmakers get it wrong when making films about demonic possession, making them either too cheesy, or too bland and boring. "Nightmare Man" takes another crack at doing something new with this genre, starring Tiffany Shepis, and directed by Rolfe Kanefsky...the film follows a woman named Ellen Morris who orders an African fertility mask, which turns out to be more than she bargained for. The mask, a hideous, horned-beastly looking thing fails to inspire any desire in Ellen and her husbands relationship, and instead inspires fear in Ellen who decides to dump the mask.

But soon after receiving it, she begins to have terrifying visions of a mysterious demonic figure she calls "The Nightmare Man". Her husband decides to take her up to the mountains to see a shrink (is it me, or do shrinks in horror films always seem to reside in these way out mountainous areas?)...to help her get over her "issues". On the way, their vehicle breaks down, and Ellen discovers that her husband brought along the mask with them. After a brief fight between the two, he decides to go to find help for their car troubles, and that's when the nightmare man decides to strike against Ellen, who makes a run for the nearby woods to escape him.

But is the nightmare man real and really after her? Or is she just hallucinating? Or is her husband the nightmare man? These are three questions the film allows the viewer to ponder as things unfold on screen. But honestly, this movie plays out far too much like a run-of-the-mill slasher movie to pique any interest or grab ones attention. I as most of you know, like my films original, creative, and unique. While this movie did show shades of that, the meat of the story stays far too close to home and doesn't take enough risks. This film has everything that could tie into the phrase "cliche"...chase scenes through the woods which last far too long, sexual innuendo's, skimpy-dressed women, bad jokes, and pointless, repetitive dialogue.

It's like a throwback to those old Jason movies, only minus the violence and intense chase sequences. "Nightmare Man" has the tools to be a good supernatural slasher film of sorts, but squanders them all because it's so afraid to go outside the box. Tiffany Shepis, B movie queen extraordinaire who plays the lead girl in a group of four friends who hear Ellen's screams, and come to her rescue...is left to carry this movie all by herself, which I found very much strange. It seemed to me that the writer didn't give her any backup as far as the supporting cast is concerned.

The actress who plays Ellen is given a bunch of horrid dialogue which is so cliche and typical of a film where one person thinks they're hallucinating, that it hurt to watch. If you've ever seen a horror film where one character thinks the killer is a figment of her imagination, then you know what sort of statements come out of her mouth. "I'm not crazy!", "He's inside me!", "He's coming!", "I need my pills!"...yada, yada, yada. That makes the character, who's supposed to be the second-tier lead in the film just fade into obscurity, and really become quite annoying. At that point, it becomes necessary to focus on Shepises character, not because of her looks though, but beyond that...the fact that the other characters are just so damn annoying.

A severe lack of originality is what hurts this movie more than anything, and it can be seen in everything from the characters actions to the dialogue. The poor lighting in the movie also hurts it, as the dark scenes are very difficult to make out what's happening, and shaky camera angles hurt the film in some instances as well. "Nightmare Man" does have some bloody deaths, but again because they happen during those night time moments, it's very difficult to see them unfold clearly.

The film does however try and show some flashes of brilliance during the final act, by breaking out the demonic voices and some nice makeup fx, but a really stale, worn out, and tired late plot twist involving one of the films supporting characters hurts those efforts. "Nightmare Man's" final scene is likeable and has a classic horror edge to it. It's too bad the rest of the film didn't measure up as well as the ending scene though. "Nightmare Man" gives a valiant effort to be something unique and new for the indie horror crowd, but the script which fails to take any risks, is just one huge ball and chain this picture just could not free itself of.

Positives:Tiffany Shepis gives a good performance, some nice demon moments occur in the final act.

Negatives:Poorly shot night scenes, a cliched, and unoriginal script, bad dialogue, not a very strong supporting cast.

Overall:Nice try, but no cigar.





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